| Cat Stevens – Tea for the Tillerman Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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it definitely does not mean “son” but “sun”. just take a look at the cover of the album, drawn by cat stevens himself: you see a heavy, red-bearded, tired man drinking tea and behind him a (judging by colour and size) setting sun. (as well as some children playing in a tree. and a mysterious shadowy figure in the background which seems to be calling lightning from the sky…?) “Wine for the women who made the rain come” rain being tears, this could mean he brings out a toast to all the women he once knew, who made him sad, probably by leaving him. but there is no bitterness in this song, everything seems fine (it’s a “happy day”), so perhaps they are even there with him (choir!) and they have long since forgiven each other. @ fish_monster: it’s the last track of the album, so it may well be meant to round off the listening experience. musically it comes with a last big climax, followed by some seconds of piano epilogue, depicting a brilliant sunset after a long and glorious day full of thinking (“where do the children play”, “but I might die tonight”), loving and worrying (“sad lisa”, “wild world”), searching for enlightenment (“miles from nowhere”). then the sun sets, the day is over, the music is over, time to go to bed and rest, for the next day awaits. |
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| Cat Stevens – Sad Lisa Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I just love how the piano comes „trickling rain“ into the song. “There must be more I can tell her” this helplessness can ruin a man. wanting so much to ease her pain, but not being able to help. it destroys you. one very subjective comment: the melody that goes with the line “Though I know no one can see her” always had me picturing the singer smiling. some smug smile perhaps, knowing that he is the only one. @ RWaters: nice one. “no one can see her” the way he does, because he knows her very well and can look into her heart. @ Loail: you let your dog cry in your shirt? ugh, that’s gross… |
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| Cat Stevens – Lady D'Arbanville Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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@chesterfield: thanks, man. good points. good to see there still are some sensible people out there. and since a given piece of art is up to interpretation by the audience, no matter what the artist intended originally, I see no constraint to take this song literally and think about a man mourning his beloved one. |
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| Cat Stevens – Foreigner Suite Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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one of the most beautiful love songs I know. very optimistic. depicting love to be the one force to set you free (“it's freedom calling”), overcome your fear (“Dreams […] made me scared, But I'm over to that Sunnyside Road”), do what you were meant to do on earth (“find yourself”). goes with the sixties’ attitude to life. “And in a little while Our love will spread to you” making the world a better place through love and peace. naturally. sooner or later everyone must surely see, that this is the way to live. now, with the benefit of hindsight, we can see that sadly/luckily (I am not quite sure) this wasn’t to come about. “Take my love That’s all I have at hand” no material girls, please. enlightenment is all we need. “And I can't wait to be with you tomorrow night” of course the physical aspects of love are fun too. “There are no words I can use Because the meaning Still leaves for you to choose” nice linguistic touch. steven seems to be thinking along the lines of constructivism theory. we cannot directly communicate our feelings to someone else. Humans need to resort to words to reach another individual. but words are a very poor tool, since they are up for interpretation and you get in real trouble as soon as you want your point to be understood in one single certain way. “You see my face But it's in my heart That's where it's taking place” nevertheless – since there are no real alternatives – we need to communicate through words, because from the outside only a fraction of our feelings is visible. “Heaven must've programmed you“ very strange line. combining spirituality with computer-science doesn’t seem to be the wisest of choices. either steven wanted to praise the unity and equality of all creation (admitting even computer-science has a right to exist, as much as it contradicts the idea of love as the driving force behind everything), or he totally blew this one. or maybe the word ‘programmed’ had another denotation in 1973? beats me. “The moment you fell inside my dreams I realised all I had not seen” does this line refer to the other dream-related lines about being frightened? did the sudden appearance of love in his life frighten him? the fear of losing it before it even started? I don’t think so. I think first he dreams about unpleasant things but then she appears in his dreams and soothes his pain. the time “just last night” then would not necessarily have to be taken literally. it could just mean a recent event that still troubles him and therefore seems closer than it actually is. besides, the metaphor of the ending night is a common one for getting ones hopes up, stepping out of the darkness, leading a better life etc.. “But when you're with me boy it chokes my mind” brain refuses to work. recreation from reasoning. does not go well with achieving things in a capitalist world. “Man must fight for freedom That's what most other people would say” he does not say so. right he is. you know the saying: bombing for peace is like fucking for virginity. “Look for a body to lead them But there's too many to lead them away” don’t follow no leaders. they have their own motives for which they want to exploit their followers. think for yourself. get responsible for your life. whew, that grew rather long. hope you had a good time digging through it. |
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| Porcupine Tree – Don't Hate Me Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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@Wakeboard_Snufkin: beg your pardon, but your comment is pretty useless. why don't you give the full name? wikipedia says -- theo travis -- |
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| Porcupine Tree – Stupid Dream Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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agreed. but why post an INSTRUMENTAL on a LYRICS-interpretation site? to tell everyone that you like it? wow, interesting... |
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| Porcupine Tree – Arriving Somewhere But Not Here Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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one more thing that amazes me about this song: gavin harrison must have died from boredom while playing this in the studio. he keeps it so very simple. a drummer of lesser skill would definitely have tried to fill it up more. |
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| Porcupine Tree – Halo Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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yeah, right. if there were no people, they could not ruin religion. hey, wait a second, if there were no people, then there was no religion too...! *laughing hearty* I do not understand, why anybody comments on this song, except that it definitely rocks. The lyrics are pretty obvious and shouldn't need an interpretation. |
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| Porcupine Tree – Piano Lessons Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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"I come in value packs of ten (in five varieties)" Of course it's cynical, what else could it be? I think it means: I become bulk commodity, selling myself at less than fair value. In addition, to please you I can change myself into any flavor you like. Clearly going against commerce. |
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| Porcupine Tree – Trains Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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60 ton angel: wikipedia states space station mir to have weighed 130 tons. good approach though. might actually have looked like an angel. |
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| Porcupine Tree – Waiting (Phase One) Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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@unsound: if he really was in a hospital because of cancer or anything similarly serious, he wouldn’t be crawling away. either walking or flying. these lyrics depict a man who is on the one hand arguing about his situation and on the other hand enjoying it with relish. “Waiting... to be born again” metaphor for beginning a new life (after having successfully crawled away of course). ironically to “be born” is not an action one can undertake, but something that is done to you without your help (and, in the literal sense of being squeezed through a chokingly tight tunnel out of your warm and comfortable mother into a cold and much too loud world, without your approval). so being born is quite the opposite to crawling away, which means an act of will and body, mustering your remaining strength to end a harmful situation, probably in order to save your very life. seems like he’s waiting for someone else to do the job for him. “Waiting... for the drugs to make it real” word is, getting away from drugs once you really are in is quite an effort. again an act of body as well as spirit. but going back to “feeling nothing” is not exactly a very promising outlook. “Waiting... to be disciplined” sounds like bdsm to me. “Aching... for your nails across my skin” common picture: woman scratching man’s back while having sex. “Wanting... the saddest kind of pain” “sad pain” can only be emotional (sorrow), or at least I can’t imagine what a sad bodily hurt could be. he WANTS pain. he LIKES being disciplined (whipped? bonded?) and made sad. so why end it? makes the statement about wanting to crawl away seem pretty pathetic. at least he seems to be aware of the harmful potential of his situation. disclaimer: in no way do I intend to compare bdsm-fans to drug-addicts. the former is about temporarily giving control over my self to a trusted, intimate person. the latter is about giving myself away to a chemical substance for good, denying to take responsibility for my life. |
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| Porcupine Tree – Arriving Somewhere But Not Here Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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the following should be read as one ongoing text. leave the quotations out, they are only there to clarify matters. ---------- what you were taught, everything you experienced as a child was wrong, perverted. it has twisted your soul. it destroys you. but you don’t know anything other than that so you keep on going along that way. ("Drinking down the poison the way you were taught") but you rush blindly forward, without knowing you way, without knowing where you are headed, without stopping to see where you are now. ("Never stop the car on a drive in the dark") you have already wanted to change your ways, one time or another. wanted to free yourself, live your own life, make a stand. ("Ever thought from here on in your life begins") which means that you would have to reconsider everything you previously were positive about. ("And all you knew was wrong?") yet nevertheless you keep doing the same mistakes over and over again. ("Ever had the feeling you've been here before?") did you ever become aware of the fact, that you block out your thoughts and emotions by a sort of background noise in your head, that you manage to keep constantly swelling in order to maintain thoughtlessness? (“rain upon a river rushing through your ears”) did you ever admit to yourself that your anger, your rage prohibits you from ever achieving anything? (“Did you see the red mist block your path?”) and you always imagined you death as a violent one. possibly with the intent to end your life with you own hands, in order to be able to arrange it to your liking: going with a bang or a crash, something big, something nasty. definitely not silently fading away. (“Did you imagine the final sound as a gun? Or the smashing windscreen of a car?”) has it never occurred to you that there is nothing horrible about going peacefully, perhaps even in a bed, with a song in your ears. what’s eating you? (“Did you ever imagine the last thing you'd hear as you're fading out was a song?”) did you begrudge those buggers the good caring mother you never had? did the pain of this realization claw into your soul? did it sting like needles? (“Did you feel the envy for the sons of mothers tearing you apart?”) did it cut like scissors? but you never let yourself feel the pain, did you? you’d rather build a wall around your heart and run away like hell. (“Did the scissors cut a way to your heart?”) run away from the knowledge that your mother never cared about you. the memory of her cold eyes uninterestedly glancing at you is buried deep inside you. (“Never look for the truth in your mother's eyes”) and that’s why you keep on running. running from your memories, running from yourself as far as possible. but you take yourself with you. so you can never stop or the memories will overtake you. and you keep reassuring yourself, that you will be ARRIVING SOMEWHERE somewhen. yes, you definitely will. BUT NOT now, not HERE... |
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| Porcupine Tree – A Smart Kid Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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first things first: this song is truly a wicked one. the lyrics literal sci-fi- / third world war setting makes perfect sense, but much more important is the metaphorical meaning, for which it sets the stage. @pw: obviously the narrator refers to himself with the title. he is the only survivor, so he must have done something right, must be smarter than all the others, because they failed to survive. but it’s a very ironic statement, since this so very smart kid gains nothing from his being clever, except depressions. (jeems seems to agree :) there is a book called “the drama of the gifted child” by alice miller. it describes the problems of growing up in and getting used to the world as it is, with all it’s flaws and demands and uncaring hardships. this process of acculturation is a very difficult one, as we all know because we experienced puberty ourselves, but it is even more so for the talented and intelligent children, because they perceive more and accordingly adapt much better, for example to the needs of their (in unlucky cases) overstrained parents. they cry little and they don’t complain (which effectively means they learn to hide and even suppress their feelings). they learn to keep quiet in order to not disturb someone who has enough trouble on his mind. this is a totally subconscious process. the children feel what’s going on, they see the true feelings behind their parents masks, but the words to name them and the experience to cope with it are not at their disposal. children need to be loved by their parents to survive (as is repeatedly shown in fortunately just a few experiments through the centuries, children who do not receive love or at least some sort of human interaction, die), and they will unknowingly do anything to be granted love. nevertheless it is a hard struggle, which leaves marks on the child. --> “there was a war” could refer to this struggle. --> “i must have won” then would mean he managed to twist himself into the desired shape, received the needed attention and survived. the mechanisms learned in that time are very hard to crack, as I’m sure every psychoanalyst can confirm. in severe cases, the now grown up will continually (--> “five long years”) apply these childhood-survival-techniques, withdrawing from the world, not showing anyone his feelings, seeking shelter within himself, losing touch with the real world, feeling completely lost and alone. --> “stranded”, “i’m the only one” @Mauser: that would mean that the isolation and loneliness do not stem from depression. it’s rather the other way around. the only remaining – desperate – hope for such a person is, that someone will come and free him from the cage he himself built, from the greyness of a life without feelings. --> “I will wait for you until the sky is blue” (sky mirrors feelings) someone whose socialisation failed that badly, does not only give the impression of being strange to ‘normal’ people, they may seem strange to him too. they differ so much, as for communication they could be from different worlds. --> “spaceship from another star” @idshanks: we agree on the ‘emotionally isolated’ part, but the narrator does not find someone who understands him. he is found by aliens. although they seem to be interested in the fate of humanity (pun intended: ‘humankind’ on the literal, ‘the narrators humaneness’ on the metaphorical level), they still are a completely different species. disclaimer: 1. I am not trying to do an analysis of Mr. Wilson here, but Mauser pointed out, that Steven wrote the album about himself and, well, I think we agree that he absolutely is a gifted man. 2. this is my very personal perspective on and interpretation of the song. no one claims it holds the never-ending and ultimate truth, so do with it whatever you like. |
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| Joni Mitchell – River Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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It's quite simple song and a quite beautiful one. The singer feels completely out of place (no snow, crazy place), and the hypocritical ceremony (joy&peace vs. cutting) doesn't help. She's so lost and sad, that even a man who really loves her cannot stand it, and now she has the additional pain of being responsible for driving him away. Isn't it tragical. (Well, and don't we all know this...*sigh*) |
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| Genesis – No Son Of Mine Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| it does not have to be about abuse, in fact i think it isn't because for that it's too weak an emotion displayed here. i think it's about a father who keeps his family under control, beats his wife, does not reason with anyone but tells them what to do and not to do. he cannot be changed or overcome, so the son has to flee, cut the connection. but his father cannot forgive him escaping his rule. | |
| Counting Crows – Anna Begins Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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"every word is nonsense but I understand" Wow, always have to cry when that line comes. What impresses me most about this song, is that here we can see an artist at work. He takes that situation he has experienced with that girl (on a greek island while on vacation, [thanks to fireworks]) and transforms it into something bigger, refines it down to the essentials, until what's left are only the underlying emotions, which can touch you in so many different ways and fit so many similar situations. |
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| Counting Crows – Colorblind Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Thanks to MakeYourself! He had the song written before he was asked to contribute to the film, so you can forget about that losing your virginity nonsense and start some serious thinking. We know Adam to be a capable writer with a liking towards torn und unstable characters, so I think we can trust him to come up with something more than that. So here's what I think. "Colorblind" - stands for impaired senses, he cannot see the world for what it is. He loses his sensual connection to the world, and that's because he's "Covered in skin" - our skin is the border between us and the outside world and therefore stands for the walls of defense he has built up, probably for fear of being hurt. He's all by himself and that means all alone. "Pull me out from inside" - he has noticed his lack of interaction with the world but cannot change his behaviour by himself, he needs help. This whole song is a cry for help! "I am ready" - he cannot stand being in this state any more, he wishes he was ready to start living, to unfold und blossom, but the constant reiteration shows that he's not all that ready: he's only trying to convince himself. "I am fine" - he cries for help but at the same time is afraid of the consequences, of leaving his prison, so he reassures himself, 'oh nevermind, it's fine the way it is'. These two voices inside his head tear him apart and he cannot stand it and he wants to get out, but he can't get out and... |
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